Agreement allows Syracuse students to shadow crews working on school renovations

Syracuse, NY -- The Syracuse school board this week sealed an agreement with two local community development groups that will allow high school students to shadow construction workers renovating city schools.

The district has worked for more than a year with the Syracuse Alliance for a New Economy and the Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse to set up the program. It will allow a half-dozen Syracuse high school juniors and seniors to observe tradesworkers -- including carpenters, electricians and architects -- involved with the Joint Schools Construction Board project, a multimillion project to repair and renovate city school buildings.

Julio Urrutia, a board member of SANE, called the move "historic." He said other cities across the country, including Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, have so-called community benefits agreements to ensure projects using public money benefit members of the local community.

"It holds the developer accountable to the people, in this case, students," he said.

Roofing work at Bellevue and Clary schools is expected to begin this summer, and Urrutia said he hopes students can begin shadowing workers on those projects.

Brian Nolan, the district's director of high schools, said this year's students will come from the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central's building trades programs, and Principal John Dittman will help select and coordinate those students.

Program costs are expected to be covered by a federal Perkins grant aimed at career and technical education training.